The University of Southern California is a diverse community of scholars, located in the heart of Los Angeles —a dynamic center for technology, health services, media and the arts. USC has more than 400 graduate programs offered by the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and professional schools.

The faculty in your program have decided that you are one of the scholars who will open up an academic discipline to the vast possibilities of the future. The exploration of those possibilities is exactly what USC represents. We offer you all the knowledge, creativity, and insight of more than eighty doctoral programs and more than two hundred master’s programs. The faculty and staff of the Graduate School are here to help you work toward your goals as you shape your studies at USC. We wish you every success in your studies and in your chosen profession.

Together with the Graduate School Advisory Council (GSAC), Graduate Deans Group and Friends of the Graduate School (FOGS), provide advice on a broad spectrum of issues related to graduate education at USC.

PhD students at USC are supported by fellowships, teaching assistantships, research assistantships, or a combinantion of these funding sources. The USC Graduate School funds hundreds of domestic and international students annually. The recipients of Graduate School fellowship are selected from an application pool containing some of the most highly recruited students in the world.

The DIA initiative ensures that diversity, inclusion, and access are part of the very fabric of USC.The objectives of DIA are to help USC schools and programs increase diversity, build new pathways to attract highly qualified underrepresented students to USC graduate programs and to support graduate students as they progress toward their professional goals.DIA support is provided through PhD student funding, recruitment and professional development.

Mission Statement

The USC Graduate School mission is to promote an outstanding educational experience for USC graduate students, to celebrate graduate student achievements, and to provide leadership in the establishment and communication of policies, standards and processes related to graduate education at USC.